^  VVl 


THE  FORERUNNER 
OF  THE  CHURCH 


ioo4a 


mnyerysarvy  ^ 

_ 


AMERICAN 

SUNDAY-SCHOOL  UNION 
MAY,  1917 


Pamphlet  C — Anniversary  Series 


'Fa  tv] 

/VI I  SC  . 


THE  FORERUNNER  OF 
THE  CHURCH 


In  establishing  more  than  one  hundred  and  twenty 
tlionsaiid  Sunday-schools,  largely  in  undeveloped  and 
sparsely  settled  communities,  from  which  thousands  of 
successful  churches,  representing  practically  all  de¬ 
nominations,  have  been  developed,  the  American  Sunday- 
School  Union  for  one  hundred  years  has  steadfastly 
maintained  its  policy  of  being  undenominational  in 
its  form  and  interdenominational  in  its  work. 

Phillips  Brooks  said:  “The  American  Sunday-School 
Union  goes  to  distant  regions;  it  marches  in  the  front, 
gathering  in  the  poor  and  outcast,  and  reaches  to  points 
otherwise  inaccessible.  Afterwards  the  church  comes, 
with  its  more  complicated  machinery,  and  completes 
the  work.” 

The  American  Sunday-School  Union  does  not  operate 
in  the  larger  towns  and  cities.  It  does  not  “compete” 
with  denominational  churches.  It  occupies  an  entirely 
exclusive  field.  It  works  in  the  remote  and  almost  inac¬ 
cessible  territories  that  are  beyond  the  reach  of  all  other 
religious  and  benevolent  organizations. 

D.  L.  Moody  said,  “The  American  Sunday-School 
Union  is  doing  a  work  of  the  first  importance  in  evangeliz¬ 
ing  the  country  settlements,  and  is  doing  it  more  effi¬ 
ciently  and  economically  than  any  other  agency.” 

Moreover  it  is  the  only  agency  that  can  bring  together 
in  common  worship,  Bible  study  and  community 
service,  all  the  people  of  any  neighborhood  in  which 
there  are  not  enough  residents  of  any  one  denomination 
to  start  a  church  or  Sunday-school  of  their  own. 

The  American  Journal  of  Education,  in  discussing  the 
history  and  work  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union, 
says:  “Where  the  influence  of  the  Sunday-school  was 

3 


most  needed,  there  the  greatest  hindrance  was  to  be 
overcome  because  of  the  variety  of  creeds  and  conflict 
of  religious  influences  and  usages.  To  meet  these  con¬ 
ditions,  then  as  now,  there  was  need  of  a  society  which 
should  be  distinctively  a  Union,  Evangelical,  Home 
Missionary  Sunday-School  Society.  No  other  society 
could  enter  a  communitv  on  the  same  basis  as  that  on 
which  this  Society  was  introduced.  By  the  name  it 
bore,  ‘Union’;  by  the  purpose  of  its  presence,  ‘to  unite 
in  Bible  Study’;  and  by  its  most  catholic  spirit,  ‘em¬ 
bracing  all,’  it  united  all,  old  and  young,  in  Bible  study 
and  in  Christian  work  and  worship.” 

The  Sunday-schools  founded  by  the  American  Sunday- 
School  Union  are  maintained  on  a  union  basis  only  until 
such  time  as  a  majority  of  the  members  indicate  a  de¬ 
sire  for  a  denominational  affiliation.  They  are  then 
free  to  express  their  preference  without  any  influence  on 
the  part  of  this  Society;  and  when  a  permanent  de¬ 
nominational  connection  has  been  effected — which  is 
usually  coincident  with,  or  closely  followed  by,  the  forma¬ 
tion  of  a  local  church — the  responsibility  of  the  Ameri¬ 
can  Sunday-School  Union  for  that  community  has  been 
transferred. 

Thus,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  Union  Sunday-school 
is  the  forerunner  of  the  church.  It  is  the  foundation 
upon  which  the  church  is  built.  The  American  Sunday- 
School  Union  blazes  the  trail  into  localities  theretofore 
unreached  by  religious  influence,  and  paves  the  way  for 
denominational  organizations  to  step  in  later  on  and 
continue  the  work  of  religious  and  social  development 
along  their  own  lines. 

And  now,  as  this  Society  is  preparing  to  celebrate 
its  One-Hundredth  Anniversary  in  its  great  work  of 
Sunday-school  organization  and  development,  it  is  also 
planning  to  extend  its  work  and  influence  more  widely 
than  ever  before,  and  invites  the  co-operation  and  sup¬ 
port  of  all  church  and  Sunday-school  organizations  and 
their  respective  individual  members. 

This  appeal  is  made  because  there  are  over  forty  million 
(40,000,000)  people  in  the  United  States  still  unreached 
by  religious  influence,  a  large  proportion  of  them  children 

4 


and  young  people  whose  lives  can  be  properly  guided  and 
developed  more  clFec Lively  through  the  agency  of  the 
Sunday-school  than  by  any  other  means. 

It  will,  therefore,  be  readily  seen  that  there  is  still  a 
vast  work  to  be  done  by  this  Society,  and  the  more 
generously  the  organization  is  supported  the  more  vigor¬ 
ously  can  this  work  be  carried  on. 

In  conjunction  with  its  work  of  Sunday-school  pro¬ 
motion  and  community  development,  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union  issues  Sunday-school  periodicals 
and  religious  literature  of  all  kinds.  Its  literature  goes 
only  where  denominational  literature  could  not  be  used 
or  where  Union  literature  is  more  suitable  or  more  effec¬ 
tive.  Even  denominational  missionaries  often  find  it 
necessary  to  use  this  Society’s  literature  because  of  the 
variety  of  faiths  they  encounter  in  their  work. 

The  following  quotation  from  a  prominent  Presby¬ 
terian  clergyman,  in  reference  to  the  American  Sunday- 
School  Union,  “hits  the  nail  on  the  head”:  “*  *  * 

while  it  cannot  do  the  work  of  our  Board,  it  has  a  field 
of  its  own  to  cultivate  which  our  Board  cannot  reach; 
and  for  which,  nevertheless,  we,  in  common  with  Chris¬ 
tians  of  other  names,  are  bound  to  do  what  we  can. 
It  would  be  superfluous  to  illustrate  this  remark.  Every 
one  must  assent  to  it,  who  has  not  closed  his  eyes  to  the 
efficient  labors  of  the  Union,  in  bringing  the  wide  spir¬ 
itual  wastes  of  our  country  under  cultivation.” 

He  also  states  in  reference  to  the  Society’s  literature: 
“I  have  seen  the  happy  influence  of  these  books  upon 
families  of  children;  and  still  more,  I  have  observed  the 
healthful  action  of  this  Institution  in  promoting  the 
radical  revolution  which  has  taken  place  in  the  juvenile 
literature  of  the  age.  The  auspicious  change  wrought  in 
this  department  within  the  brief  cycle  of  a  single  genera¬ 
tion,  is  largely  to  be  attributed,  under  Providence,  to 
the  agency,  direct  and  indirect,  of  the  American  Sunday- 
School  Union.” 

The  American  Sunday-School  Union  has  distributed 
by  sale  and  by  gift  more  than  ten  million  dollars'  worth  of 
morally  sound,  instructive  literature.  The  Society  also 
carries  a  full  line  of  Sunday-school  supplies  and  req- 

5 


Attending  Sunday-school  under  difficulties  in 

Idaho. 


A  Union  Sunday-school  of  the  Southwest. 


A  Nevada  town  of  600  population.  A  recently  organized  Union  Sunday-school  is 
the  only  rehgious  service  in  this  entire  community.  A  good  church 
will  doubtless  be  a  later  development. 


In  the  foreground  on  the  left  is  shown  the  superintendent  of  a  newly  organized  Sunday-school  in 
the  South.  On  the  right  is  shown  a  fully  developed  school,  also  in  the  South. 


Here  are  shown  twelve  of  the  twenty-eight  churches,  of  various  denominations,  that  have 
developed  from  the  work  of  a  single  missionary  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union. 
This  picture  is  a  forceful  illustration  of  the  Union  Sunday-school  as  the  forerunner  of 
the  church.  There  are  over  two  hundred  Union  missionaries  doing  similar  work. 


The  meeting  place  of  a  newly  organized  Sunday-school  in  the  Lakes  District. 
Many  churches  develop  from  such  humble  beginnings. 


uisites.  This  department  is  maintained  particularly  for 
the  equipment  of  new  Sunday-schools  which  are  con¬ 
stantly  being  organized  and  which,  frequently,  are  with¬ 
out  adequate  funds  in  their  early  stages. 

Among  the  Society’s  famous  editors  were  such  men 
as  Samuel  Austin  Allibone,  LL.D.,  author  of  the  “Dic¬ 
tionary  of  Authors,”  a  monumental  and  standard  work; 
and  Richard  Newton,  D.D.,  known  as  “The  Prince  of 
Children’s  Preachers.” 

A  well-known  clergyman  of  the  middle  west  writes  as 
follows:  “For  several  years  I  have  watched  the  workings 
of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  and  its  devoted 
agents.  In  many  communities  they  are  the  pioneers  of 
Christian  effort.  By  the  organization  of  Sunday-schools 
they  reach  the  children,  and  by  means  of  evangelistic 
services  they  reach  the  adults  and  provide  teachers  for 
the  young;  and  thus  they  lay  deep  and  strong  founda¬ 
tions  for  permanent  religious  instruction,  character  and 
work.  They  merit  universal  sympathy  and  help.” 

And  here  is  an  interesting  letter  from  a  Colorado 
physician:  “For  more  than  eighteen  years  I  have  been 
identified  with  the  work  of  the  American  Sunday-School 
Union.  My  office  has  been  headquarters  for  the  county 
work,  and  the  opportunity  thus  afforded  gives  me  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  what  the  Union’s  work  has  been 
in  this  territory. 

“Our  county  is  very  large  and  much  of  it  thinly  settled. 
In  its  outlying,  sparsely  settled  districts  Sabbath-schools 
have  been  organized  by  the  American  Sunday-School 
Union,  and  some  ten  or  twelve  of  these  have  already 
grown  into  church  organizations. 

“What  the  Union’s  work  has  done  for  us  here  cannot 
be  overestimated.  I  am  sure  that  its  missionary  touches 
more  lives  than  does  the  pastor  of  any  one  of  our  churches. 
When  I  think  of  the  growth  of  our  county  during  the 
past  twenty  years,  and  note  the  work  done  in  it  by  the 
Union’s  representatives,  I  feel  proud  to  be  identified 
with  it.  Its  influence  has  always  been  good  and  has 
certainly  been  more  extended  than  that  of  any  other  of 
our  religious  institutions.” 


8 


An  Arkansas  attorney  who  is  familiar  with  the  Soeiety's 
effective  work  in  tlie  mining  camps  of  western  Arkansas 
and  eastern  Oklahoma,  says:  “I  have  been  contributing 
to  this  work  a  number  of  years  and  know  of  nothing  that 
gives  greater  returns  for  the  amount  invested.” 

Dr.  Newell  Dwight  Hillis,  famous  pastor  of  the  Plym¬ 
outh  Church,  Brooklyn,  states:  “No  form  of  Christian 
work  with  which  I  am  acquainted  is  more  economical 
or  yields  larger  returns.  Every  good  citizen  should  help 
this  Union  Bible  work.  Its  support  and  extension  is 
vital  to  our  American  society.” 

And  so  we  might  continue  indefinitely,  with  statement 
after  statement  from  people  everywhere,  of  every  de¬ 
nomination,  who  know  exactly  what  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union  has  accomplished  in  the  past, 
what  it  is  doing  right  now  and  what  it  plans  to  do  in  the 
future.  The  work  of  this  Society  is  missionary  work  in 
its  most  practical  and  effective  form. 

Bobert  S.  Scott  (of  Carson,  Pirie,  Scott  and  Company), 
leading  merchant  of  Chicago,  summed  it  up  when  he 
said:  “This  Society  ought  to  be  generously  supported 
by  the  benevolent  of  all  sects  and  denominations,  by 
all  who  love  their  country  and  desire  its  greatest  good.” 
Hundreds  of  prominent  clergymen  and  business  men 
of  all  denominations  have  expressed  similar  opinions. 

The  American  Sunday-School  Union  is  a  pioneer  for 
the  denominations  and  bears  to  them  the  relation  of  an 
efficient  servant.  It  is  said  to  be  the  only  organization 
of  its  kind  that  seeks  to  turn  over  to  others  all  the  results 
of  its  labors.  As  the  Society  is  supported  chiefly  by 
voluntary  contributions,  the  co-operation  of  Christian 
workers  everywhere  is  earnestly  invited. 

AMEBICAN  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  UNION 
1816  CHESTNUT  STREET 
PHILADELPHIA 

N.  B. — This  is  the  third  of  a  series  of  five  pamphlets  designated  as 
A,  B,  C,  D  and  E.  The  other  four  pamphlets  will  be  gladly  furnished 
upon  request. 


9 


•rf» 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
Columbia  University  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/forerunnerofchurOOamer 


V 


